1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting structure for a bumper rail of a front end module carrier for a vehicle, and more particularly, to a mounting structure for a bumper rail of a front end module carrier for a vehicle, wherein an impact transmitted to the front end module carrier through the bumper rail upon collision of the vehicle can be effectively absorbed to minimize damage to the front end module carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a cooling system including a radiator, a condenser, a fan and the like is placed at a front side of an engine room of a vehicle. Such apparatuses are mounted within the engine room in a production line.
However, in a case where the apparatuses are assembled separately, the numbers of parts and processes increase. Thus, there has been recently proposed a modularization technology in which a front panel (hereinafter, refers to as “carrier”) constituting a front section of a body structure of the vehicle is produced as a single part and a radiator, a condenser, a fan and the like are then mounted on the front panel.
Front end module carriers are classified into a steel type, a resin type and a hybrid type with a mixture of steel and resin, according to their materials. In the steel type, since all members are made of steel, the front end module carrier has high strength but has a disadvantage of increased weight. Meanwhile, the resin type front end module carrier is light in weight but has a disadvantage of low strength. Therefore, in recent, the hybrid type carrier that is light in weight and can obtain strength beyond a certain level has been widely used.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a conventional front end module carrier. In this figure, a carrier 10 comprises an upper horizontal member 20 for supporting an upper portion of the carrier; a lower horizontal member 30 for supporting a lower portion of the carrier; and left, right and central vertical members 41, 42 and 43 for supporting left, right and central portions of the upper and lower horizontal members 20 and 30.
The left and right vertical members 41 and 42 are provided, at respective sides thereof, with headlamp-mounting portions 50 on which headlamps can be mounted.
Meanwhile, a bumper rail 60 is provided in front of the left and right vertical members 41 and 42, and a bumper cover (not shown) is mounted in front of the bumper rail 60. The bumper rail 60 is formed to be gently curved forward so as to absorb an impact upon head-on collision of a vehicle.
Side rail members 70 are provided at rear ends of the left and right vertical members 41 and 42 to support the carrier 10.
Both ends of the upper horizontal member 20 are connected to front fender reinforcement members 80.
FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a structure for fastening a bumper stay 61 to the left vertical member 41. The bumper rail (not shown) is firmly and fixedly mounted in front of the bumper stay 61, and bolt-fastening holes 61a are formed at a rear end of the bumper stay 61 so that the bumper stay can be fastened through bolts to the side rail member 70 as well as the left vertical member 41.
Even in the right vertical member, the bumper rail is fastened through bolts to the side rail member via the bumper stay in the same manner as described above.
However, the conventional mounting structure for the bumper rail of the front end module carrier has problems in that an impact applied to the bumper rail upon head-on collision of a vehicle is concentrated on the left and right vertical members, which is disadvantageous in impact absorption, and damage to the left and right vertical members of the front end module carrier becomes heavier.
FIG. 7 is a view showing changes in the shape of the bumper rail upon head-on collision of the conventional front end module carrier. The bumper rail 60 that was curved with a certain curvature prior to head-on collision is pushed rearward and elastically deformed to absorb an impact when the bumper rail is subjected to head-on collision against an obstacle 1. At this time, since both side portions of the bumper rail 60 have been firmly fixed to the carrier 10 through the bumper stay 61, they support the bumper rail 60.
Therefore, since a heavy load is concentrated locally on the carrier 10 to which the bumper stay 61 is fixed while the bumper rail 60 absorbs the impact, this structure has problems in that the capability of absorbing the impact is not sufficient and damage to the left and right vertical members of the front end module carrier becomes heavier.
Particularly, since the hybrid type front end module carrier is manufactured through an over-molding method by which the upper horizontal member and the left and right vertical members made of steel are covered with resin to be combined with one another, there is a problem in that portions (designated by “A” in FIG. 5) on which the left and right vertical members are located do not sufficiently withstand an impact applied to the bumper rail and thus easily broken.